Bahamas Offshore Company
The Bahamas or The Commonwealth of the Bahamas as the official name reads is a tax free English speaking jurisdiction in the Caribbean. It is considered a stable and independent sovereign country. The government is modeled after that of the United Kingdom.
The land of The Commonwealth is comprised of 700 islands. Most of the 340,000 people live on 30 of the major islands. New Providence is home to about half of the population which is the site of The Commonwealth’s capital city of Nassau.
The International Business Companies Act of 2000 governs offshore companies and declares them fully tax free in the Bahamas. In addition companies under the act enjoy the Bahamas’ lack of income and other taxes. In addition to tax exemption companies in the Bahamas have their privacy protected in accordance with various governances.
While names of shareholders and other information that is required to be kept on record are sealed to the public, much of the information is not required to be filed at all. For example businesses that operate within The Commonwealth are not required to have accounts audited. They are not required to file the accounts with the government either.
Other factors such as a minimum number of shares set at one may appeal to a number of individuals that want to create business entities with a single owner. Directors of the businesses can reside anywhere in the world and meetings for the directors need not be held in The Commonwealth of the Bahamas either. The names of Directors are filed with the government registrar though and are available to the public. The name of the beneficial owner however is not released and bearer shares are not allowed.
A factor that may prove especially appealing to some is that a Bahamas IBC may do business locally within the Commonwealth and they may also own real estate within the Bahamas. Local transactions are subject to exchange controls and stamp duty though. Transactions that are conducted outside of the Commonwealth of the Bahamas however are exempt to such controls and duty. In addition capitalization over fifty-thousand US dollars, considered high capitalization, is subject to additional government fees.
In addition to tax benefits that are granted to businesses that operate within The Commonwealth of the Bahamas there are other protections. The Commonwealth grants specific entities limited liability status. Among the prefixes that The Commonwealth recognizes are Ltd. (common in the US as denoting limited), Inc. (common in the US as incorporated) an SA (which denotes limited liability and is an abbreviation for the terms Societe Anonyme which is uncommon in the US).
As well as acknowledging these specific types of business entities, the government of The Commonwealth restricts the use of some names in conjunction with business entities to protect the identity of these institutions. Status can be granted by the Minister or possession of a license to use these titles in conjunction with business entities. These titles include the following: bank, building society, fund management, university, insurance, reinsurance, investment fund and a number of others.
